Keep On Running: A Look Ahead At 2013

Larry Macon is the World Record Holder for most marathons run in a year. Seen here celebrating the record 157th marathon.

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The last year saw the rise of the Latino vote in the 2012 election and San Antonio local "Marathon Maniac" Larry Macon break the World Record for marathons in a year -- he finished with 157. So what will happen in 2013?

San Antonio's political future

2012 is over and done -- now it’s just a prolog for 2013 -- and in San Antonio, you can wager there will be more political donnybrooks, brouhahas, shenanigans and surprises.

These tangles of political wit are not just sideshows to watch in wonder, they are local leaders and policies that have a direct impact on the quality of life in Texas and San Antonio.

"We know he's a very disciplined politician [Mayor Julián Castro] and I think his message on this is that he's going to be mayor as long as the people of San Antonio will have him -- his term limits would allow him to be mayor until 2017. The real question is does he take a risk... would he take the big risk of running for governor in 2014 at a time when it's still extremely difficult for a Democrat to win a statewide election. Or does he wait four years when some of the momentum that he's got now will have dissipated, but the demographics of the state might be better for him."

Continuing the office holder theme, Garcia points out that there are a few elected officials who represent areas of San Antonio who are not from the metro area, a fact that has some worried that they will not be strong advocates for the Alamo City.

State Sen. Donna Campbell (R) lives in New Braunfels, Loyd Doggett (D) is still thought of as an Austin Congressman, and U.S. Rep. Pete Gallego (D) is from Alpine.

Also on the board for 2013 is the eternal fight over Texas redistricting, a riveting battle of wills between the Republicans, who hold a strong majority, and the severely overmatch Democrats.

Who needs a resolution? Not Larry Macon

Every year many of us start with our list of resolutions -- getting fit is a perennial for a lot of people (including me) -- but Larry Macon doesn’t need one. He’s a marathon rock star and world record holder, and in 2012 the 68 year old ran 157 marathons.

"There are two ways to approach every issue, and you can approach it with the idea that it's going to be tough, or you can do it: "I don't care how tough it is, I'm going to do it.' That's all there is to the marathons. I have zero athletic ability, but I just decided that I'm going to do it."

Deciding to do something is often the most difficult part, but for Larry his motivation came in a strange way; an off-the-cuff boast among a group of friends who were trying to outdo each other.

"I was with a group of lawyers who every Monday would meet and try to lie each other as to who did the most athletic things -- 'I played 36 holes of golf,' 'I swam two miles' -- and I hadn't done anything that weekend. So somebody says, "Well Larry, what did you do this weekend?' I glanced over at the Express-News and I said, 'Oh, I trained for a marathon.' They said, 'Great, the marathon is in four weeks, and we'll have a party afterwards.' And the rest is history."